Socioeconomic impacts of elimination of Onchocerciasis in Abu-Hamed focus, northern Sudan: lessons after elimination

Abstract Introduction Onchocerciasis is one of the most devastating Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and it is mostly prevalent in Africa. The disease has important heavy social and economic burdens on the infected populations including low productivity, unemployment, social isolation, and stigma. Methodology/Principal Findings The socio-economic impacts of the Onchocerciasis elimination in Abu-Hamed, River Nile State, Sudan; were investigated using a well-established questionnaire, 512 participants in ten affected communities were interviewed. Our findings revealed that these communities are recovering from the social and economic burden of the diseases, with 90% of the research participants reported general satisfaction about the elimination of the disease in their community, and about 48.3% of them attended secondary school or university. Only 0.6% reported unemployment, and 25.3% and 24.7% of the participants were workers and farmers respectively. Except about the vector biting and nuisance, the majority of the respondents (90%) had no complain after the elimination of the disease in the area. Also, 90.5% of the participants reported either stable or increase in their work performance during the last twelve months. About 93.8% of the respondents were engaged in normal daily activities and involved in happy events like marriage and giving birth during the last twelve months. Conclusions/Significance Overall, we conclude that the elimination of Onchocerciasis in Abu-Hamed has several positive impacts on the economy and social life of Abu-Hamed local communities, but this could be maximized by controlling the vector, which is still having a negative impact on the populations. Establishing local developmental projects will help these communities greatly to recover and become more productive. Author Summary Onchocerciasis, also known as the river blindness, is a disease that caused by a parasitic worm which could infest people eyes or skin causing a blindness or sub-dermal disease. This worm is transmitted to human by the bite of an insect, the black fly. Although the disease is not fatal in most of the patient but it presents a significant economic and social burden on the infected people, their families and communities. This burden is a result of the social stigma associated with the skin form of the disease, and the lack of vision in case of blindness (ocular manifestation). Onchocerciasis was a public health problem in the study site, Abu-Hamed. In 2015, the disease was officially has been declared eliminated from the area. We investigated the socio-economic impacts of this success on the local communities. We have interviewed randomly selected 512 participants to understand their perspective and highlighting their experience regarding the disease elimination. Our research aimed to fill the gap of knowledge between the public health and social science by highlighting the social and economic benefits of health interventions and diseases elimination/eradication. Furthermore, to urge intervention programs to empower the local communities in the planning and implementation of health interventions for a better success.